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| "It is tempting to ask artist Brenda Harper if she believes in God. Her current exhibition of paintings features portraits of nuns, Buddha, Christ and even new growth saplings as iconic images. The work is both contemplative and exquisitely wrought, seeking to express an element of humanity within the iconography of religion. Harper explores portraiture here for the first time, beginning with the nuns. She tries to “draw forth” from each nun an essential characteristic; the result is a trinity of Faith, Love and Hope. The images of Christ and Buddha are gathered from the huge statuary found over the world. Harper unites the culturally separate images within the classical lines of the Golden Mean. The curving lines and rectangles that encircle each icon symbolize the ancient mathematical belief system that defined beauty through the geometry of naturally occurring sequences. As a delicate counterpoint to this massive scale, individual aspen trees, hovering somewhere between heaven and earth, remind us that earliest forms of worship revered trees. Therein lies the power of Harper’s new work. Reaching through time, she is driven by the painter’s heart to uncover a new vision. I was tempted to ask her. I decided not to. The work is belief enough for me." Barbara Parker |
In her new body of work, Calgary painter Brenda Harper portrays the actions and
suggestions created during the childhood game "Rock, Paper, Scissors". These
beautiful images of hands in play are simultaneously magical and haunting.
"The hand is a metaphor for the individual. It can be an intensely personal portrait of
someone, more intimate than viewing their face. The hand is recognized through
time and culture in its universal gestures, conveying complicated meaning from a
single visual cue.
"I feel a strong connection to the images I have chosen to portray in this series, which
play on the embedded metaphor found in such archetypal images of rock, scissors
and paper.
I leave it to the viewer to determine their own meanings behind the images."
suggestions created during the childhood game "Rock, Paper, Scissors". These
beautiful images of hands in play are simultaneously magical and haunting.
"The hand is a metaphor for the individual. It can be an intensely personal portrait of
someone, more intimate than viewing their face. The hand is recognized through
time and culture in its universal gestures, conveying complicated meaning from a
single visual cue.
"I feel a strong connection to the images I have chosen to portray in this series, which
play on the embedded metaphor found in such archetypal images of rock, scissors
and paper.
I leave it to the viewer to determine their own meanings behind the images."